This month it is exactly 6 years ago that I opened my bag store in Breda. Mirjam Zwolsman Bags at St Annastraat 15!
It was quite a job to transform the former coffee shop into a shop with workshop. A worktop with large cutting board, 2 stitching machines and a linkage device, a cupboard for the leather stock and of course enough space to show all the bags.
Before I opened the bag store in Breda, I had been making bags for other stores outside Breda for a number of years. Shops and galleries where more bags are sold from other bag designers or a combination with scarves or jewelery.
The workshop was at home during that period, but I thought it would be more fun to deal with the customer directly with the bags and to be able to make a bag according to the customer's wishes. For that you need your own place where people can easily come to. Before I opened the bag shop in Breda, I sometimes had a single customer at home, but it turned out to be a high threshold for people to come to their home. A bag store in the city center of Breda means that many more people step in without obligation.
When I started 5 years ago, the St Annastraat in Breda was a nice street, but the range of shops was very poor. On my left was a room rental company and on the right the building was empty. But in recent years the St Annastraat has improved enormously and it is now one of the nicest streets in Breda.
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